Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

4 reviews

hanreadin's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Outing, Religious bigotry, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Pregnancy, War, Sexism, and Sexual assault

laurareads87's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Under the Udala Trees is an extraordinary novel spanning decades -- from the Nigerian-Biafran war of the late 1960s to the 1990s -- following Ijeoma, who grows from a young girl to an adult over the course of the book.  From a young age and through her school years, Ijeoma finds herself attracted to her female friend in a country where same-sex relationships are not accepted.  The novel explores the ways that Ijeoma is pushed into conforming to heteronormative expectations -- including marrying a man -- not only by her mother, who tries to pray her sexuality away, but by her own self-doubts, fears, and internal struggles.  At the same time, the book explores ethnic and class dynamics, women's roles, generational tensions, and the struggles of articulating one's identity so thoughtfully, and incorporates intertextual references and multiple languages so well.  Beautifully written, Under the Udala Trees will stay with me a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Death, Grief, Rape, Death of parent, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Homophobia, Xenophobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Ableism and Miscarriage

Minor: Islamophobia

caitlinattemptstoread's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

It wasn’t a bad book, but I have a low tolerance for tragedy these days. This was sad, horrifying, violent, and depressing. (It’s about a civil war and a lesbian Nigerian girl growing up in Africa’s second most religious country.) I appreciate that there was a hopeful ending, but it was not a happy one. 

The book reflects reality and maybe I’m rating it so low because I can’t stomach our reality anymore. We spend so much time looking at the past and allowing it to dictate our present. I’d rather continue to envision a better future than continue to draw on the grief and pain of the past.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Violence, War, Homophobia, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, and Rape

fruya's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexism, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, and Medical content

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, and Child abuse